Emerge and Wonder
by WistfulSin
Summary: There is a legend, centuries old, of a beast that emerged on a festival night under the bloody light of an eclipsing full moon. Fire and wind met and danced. Amon-Shinpi had feared this night would come. Now she must face it alone, to protect her world.


So, here it is, my Christmas gift to all of you. TADA! A one-shot. Does it star our beloved Amon-Shinpi? You bet. Does it give a look at her somewhat cloudy past? Of course! Does it involve more mysteries, likely to be explained later? Isn't that what I'm good at? Anyways, I really enjoyed writing this. And I sort of had a request for it, as a few people asked if we'd ever get to see the time when Ichi transformed into her wolf form.

She Wolf, by Shakira, and Sound of the Revolution by Lunatic Calm both worked with me a lot on this. Don't judge. Haha. I hope you guys enjoy this, just in time for Christmas Eve's Eve. Anyways, here's the story. As usual, reviews are 3. Thanks friends!

* * *

"Sir," Hayato placed a hand on Lord Amon-Shinpi's shoulder, distracting the demon king from staring up at the cloudless night sky. She turned from her bedroom window, and looked at him expectantly. "I found the book you were looking for."

"Thank you, Hai." She took the family artifact as he held it out to her, and brushed her hand over the cover. "My family history, all bundled together in one tome."

"Written by your grandfather." He nodded, "And added onto by your father."

"And one day, it will be continued by me." She smiled to herself.

"May I ask what was so important about finding this book?" he watched his commander walk away from him, towards the table centered in the room. Torches lit up this half of her personal domain, and she sat, opening the cover to the first page.

"Do you realize that my grandfather was the last Takani to hold power over multiple elements?" she asked him, not looking up.

"I thought all he controlled was fire." The second in command pointed out.

"That is the common theory," she waved him over and turned the book around, pushing it towards him. "But it's not entirely true. I find it odd no one questions the sudden appearance of a fire demon in the blood line of wind."

"I never gave it much thought," he admitted.

"No one has," she held his eyes. "But me."

"So he had power over wind as well?" he deciphered from the first few pages of the book before him. He stopped on a painted image in the book of a tall, tan man with red eyes. "But he doesn't have the eyes of a Takani."

"His brothers did," she shrugged. "As did his father. But his grandfather, who is only briefly mentioned, from what I read when I was younger, was also different. He held not only the powers of wind, but also earth."

"I see," Hayato looked up at his master as she leaned back in her chair, propping her feet on the table.

"They were all first borns." She added, eying the ceiling. "And they all bonded with particular wolves. Just one, and that wolf stood by them for their whole life."

"Sir," the blacksmith rose, his cropped brown hair glinting in the torchlight. "Are you trying to suggest-"

"It's a blue moon this month, did you know that Hai?" she asked, no smile on her face. "And on the second moon, there is supposed to be an eclipse."

"I wasn't aware, no."

"Read this," she had long ago memorized the pages of her family history, just in case, and she flipped to the particular section necessary before leaving the table to look out her glass wall once again. Taking a deep breath she studied the scene of the sleeping village below, protected by her family and her wolves. "There are too many similarities between us, friend."

"You are not your grandfather, or his." He declared, rising. "You are the first female to be born first, this fact seems to elude you from time to time."

"It has skipped generations since the earliest records of my family." She closed her eyes. "And it is now on mine. Did you read?"

"Sir, I think you are overreacting."

"And under the bloody tint of the rare moon, he arose transformed, into a beast larger than any that prowled his lands." She quoted verbatim. "A wolf of fire, with an uncontrollable hunger and an unstoppable rage, mourning all the losses that had been contained in him."

"You are not of fire." He told her.

"It's not a chance I'm willing to take." She sighed. "My grandfather had nothing left to lose. My father had already started his travels, and was grown, rarely here in his homeland. My grandmother had already died. He was a man whose heart had no reason left to fight the animal inside."

* * *

"Sister!" Kin Jiro ran up to his older sister, whose gold eyes shone with approval at his formal kimono.

"Yes, brother?" Kuya smiled, one hand gently fussing over his dark hair. Blue eyes shone up at her lovingly.

"Tonight is the night of festival!" he grinned excitedly. "Is Ichi going to come as well?"

"Go ask," she ushered him towards their eldest sibling, the ring leader, the strong hold in their small family.

The young boy skidded around the corner, before stopping dead in his tracks as he watched the older twin caressing the sheath of her sword. Instead of her usual white clothes, she wore black, her short red hair contrasting against her blue eyes and pale skin.

"Sister?" he called softly, not liking how forlorn she looked. But the minute she heard his voice the concentration turned to a soft smile, welcoming him in.

"What do you need, Kin?" she asked calmly.

"Are you coming to the festival?" he asked quietly, assuming already she would say no.

"I will go for a little while, but I have something to do after the sun goes down." She placed her hand on his should and pulled him to her side. "But we will have a great time, while we can. You and Kuya should stay after I am gone though."

"But you are coming?" he clarified, to which she nodded. "Yes!!"

He took off again, running through the manor. It warmed her heart to know he was having such a good time, spending his childhood not only in training, but as an actual child. He may be her little warrior, but she wanted to be sure he had the opportunity she had denied herself. This festival was to celebrate the natural wealth of their territory, an annual event.

It also just happened to be the same night she'd been worried about since her talk with Hayato.

Small demons ran around, laughing and smiling, as the Takani family walked under unlit paper lanterns that streamed between homes and shops. The sun was still above the horizon, keeping the sky and ground light. Kin was grinning, waving at other children, as his sisters watched him happily. Kuya wore a green silk kimono with gold designs woven into it, making her golden eyes shine and her long red hair seem more vibrant than ever. Ichi wore dark blue battle gear, a white obi died around her waist, her sword on her hip.

"Hai is waiting for me," she explained to her sister, through the metal mask. Even to her family she used the deep masculine voice that was so much a part of her. "Just in case."

"I wish I could go with you," Kuya touched her sister's hand, already knowing the strain fear was causing on her twin. "I don't like that you are forcing yourself to face this alone."

"You need to be with Kin," Ichi sighed, looking away towards the sky. "If something happens-"

"Nothing will, you are much too strong to make those mistakes." The softer one whispered. "You know we need you."

"But if something does happen," she clutched the soft, small hand overlapping her own, "Hayato has been given orders. I don't want to be the fall of this land. You will be left in charge, with Hai as your second in command, and Kin Jiro will take over when you feel he is prepared."

"No, Hayato will act as our leader until Brother comes of age." A cascade of red shivered as she shook her head. "I am not a queen, or a lord."

"I'll tell him." Amon-Shinpi turned back to watch her prize, and greatest treasure, as he played in the town center with the other children.

"He is very happy you could come this time." The soft spoken truth made blue eyes lift slightly with a smile. "He misses you, when you leave."

"I miss you both terribly." She let her natural voice tell this, as her heart thudded painfully at the thought of a permanent separation. The sun had started to get too close to the edge of the world for her comfort, at least tonight. "I should go."

"Be safe," Kuya smiled bravely.

"Kin!" Ichi called, catching her younger brother's attention. "I'm sorry, I have to go for a while."

He ran up to her, blue eyes wide as he pouted. "Do you have to?"

She knelt, unfastening the sword from her hip. "Unfortunately this is necessary, but I'll be alright. Here, look after this. You can show off with it during the presentation of the local students."

He blinked at the katana, its red case looking overly large in his small hands, and then lifted his head to his rising sister. Large eyes shone with pride and wonder.

"But you never let me use grandfather's sword." He stated in awe.

"Well, tonight is special." She didn't want to tell him that if anything were to endanger him that sword would act as a temporary protector. Just as they never spoke of the way it was forged with their grandfather's soul. "I want you to enjoy it, even though I won't be here."

He nodded and she watched as Kuya bent down to help him tie the sword across his back, a look of satisfaction on her face as her sister turned and walked away, darkness coming to her worried blue eyes.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, sir?" Hayato frowned as his commander moved into the clearing, Akira and a small group of other wolves close by. She nodded to him. "You know, this is just a story."

"Do you know how my grandfather's soul got placed in that sword?" she asked, reaching up and untying her mask. As she through it to him, she missed the quick way his eyes traced over her features.

"No, sir." He tied the metal cover to his side.

"When he transformed, he was so uncontrollable, so unsettled, that my father had to use his own sword to kill him. My mother was there." She paused and looked at Hai seriously. "You remember that my mother was originally in training to be a priestess, in her homeland. With her help, as amateur as it was, they were able to contain his soul to the blade. That is why that crest is stamped into the sheath, and etched into the metal. It's a seal."

"Why was that necessary?" he asked, watching her turn her face up to the sky.

"Because he lived to protect his family and his land." She looked disturbed. "I'm not sure what father was thinking, but he believed that is what my grandfather would want. And I believe he was right. I think, maybe, he had been what to do."

"Where is the sword?" the blacksmith asked.

"With Kin Jiro." She shrugged, looking at the rising moon. The second full moon in the month, and already a smoky red was starting to fill the silvery light. "Just in case."

"See, look, the eclipse is starting, and you are still fine." He smirked at her. Then watched as her back went rigid, and noticed that the wind had stopped. Akira was crouched low, growling, and the other wolves had followed suit. "Master?"

Amon-Shinpi's eyes were fixed to the full bodied moon, her body tense. Hayato walked a bit closer, and noticed her slight shaking, her fists in balls so tight that blood ran out in thin lines. And then he looked up at her face, and stepped back.

"Lord Amon-Shinpi?" he asked, confusion and a bit of horror on her face.

The blue eyes that had marked her as a true Takani, that had told of her father's blood running with such strength in her body, and showed her power over wind were no longer the shade of indigo he had come to expect. They were turning a vivid red, brighter than that of the heavenly body glowing above them, and the color had nearly filled her irises. He watched, unsure what to do, as the red came full circle just as the bloody colored moon became filled. The reaction was instantaneous.

The wolf demon crumbled in a loud cry of pain and rage, landing on all fours, her bloody palms getting covered in dirt as she dug her fingers into the ground, biting back against the pain. Her body was on fire, it was nothing but a black abyss of agony. All her muscles felt like they were being torn apart, her bones stretching and twisting.

"I…can't…stop…it." She growled out.

Akira howled as she screamed again, so loud even the far off festival stopped in unison to hear. Hayato covered his ears, pain on his face.

"Sir!" He yelled, racing forward, only to be tossed backwards by a wind as powerful as a tornado. The cyclone created a barrier around his leader, keeping her from him. Sitting up on his elbows his face fell, mouth open, as a massive beast filled the plain. Akira stepped back, dwarfed by the creature that had once been his master. Hai shook slightly, as the black furred, blue eyed beast snarled with a sound that could've been mistaken for thunder.

One giant paw landed on the left of the shocked second in command, nearly the size of his entire torso.

"Ichi," he stuttered out, eyes wide.

* * *

The wolf beast lifted its head, ears perked, looking in the direction of town. Before Hai could react she was off in a flurry of wind, teeth bared, and aimed for the festival.

"Did you hear that?" the demons of the village whispered to each other, no one quite sure what the loud screams had meant or where they had come from. Kin Jiro looked over the open square, where most of the booths were, to stare at his older sister. Kuya was staring at the woods with worry on her face.

The group of students that had gathered to display their skills in the square, surrounded by shoppers and on lookers, stopped mid-routine, to listen to the commotion. Kin was with them, his sister's favorite weapons tightly squeezed in his small hands. The ground began to shake, rumbling like an earthquake, sending people fleeing and falling, in search for stability and safety.

A single, echoing, howl of warning was the only precursor that prepared the villagers and the two Takani's among them for the scene unraveling.

"Akira?" Kin blinked, and Kuya's fear slammed her into action as realization struck.

_She was right. We have to move. I have to protect him._ She spun and ran, aimed for her younger brother. "Kin! Run! Move!"

"What?" he asked, crouched on the ground to keep from falling as it shook. "Kuya!"

Tree fell over, cracking loudly, as an enormous black wolf slid to a stop on the outskirt of the small town. Then the screaming started as panic set in, demons scurrying to call for their fierce protector, their lord. Kuya lay strew across the ground, knocked away by the abrupt impact of the fallen trees and running beast. Kin stared at the softer twin with worry, then locked eyes on the blue eyed monster looming over them all.

Blue eyes narrowed with a learned stubbornness as the child slid into a fighting stance, balancing the sword in his hands.

"Kin?" Kuya lifted herself up with a wince, pain shooting down her side and leg. Golden eyes found her fearless brother looking ready to fight. A wind strong enough to tatter the simple homes tore around the village, coming from the slow moving beast who was snarling down at them. The world was still in the oasis, baited breaths collectively waiting for the next movements on either side.

"Kuya! Kin! Get out of the way!" Hayato came surging forward, out of the forest, with Akira racing just in front of him.

"No!" Kuya cried out, afraid now for her sister. "Hayato! Don't!"

The intrusion seemed to spark life back into the stilled situation, breathing fire simultaneously into the massive wolf and the spirit of her forefather. As Hayato threw himself in front of the young prince, the wolf lunged forward. There was a sudden mergence of wind and fire, as the sword held in Kin's small hands became engulfed with the warm flames of a protecting spirit.

Holding the shape of a wolf even bigger than one the that had seconds before been ready to kill them all, the flames stood in front of the stunned child in the village square. Then the figure of fire lunged towards the black beast who had been nearly covered in wind starting from her feet. Kin Jiro cried out in worry and shock as Kuya screamed his sister's nickname. Akira stood over the fallen sister, watching the fight with his ears down and mouth twisted in a snarl.

The fiery beast bared down on the living wolf, biting and charging so that she had to fight back or flee. Rearing back on their haunches, both creatures met in a flash of hot wind and whipping flames, which became to circle around, surrounding them both. The heated cyclone looked like a tornado of fire, the black furred beast completely unseen in the torrent.

After what felt like hours to the village patrons and the siblings, the fire and the wind both wound down, the fire returning to its home in the sheath of the Takani family sword with a slow gait, still in the regal form of a wolf. There was a slight backwards glance towards the crumbled form on the ground as it paused just before Kin and Hayato, the soft wind lifting their hair full of the sensation of comfort and love.

The words in the wind that none of them could hear touched the ears of the most sensitive of all those involved in the ordeal. Even unconscious, the mind of Amon-Shinpi accepted the message delivered to her.

_Granddaughter, you are not strong enough, yet.

* * *

_

"Sister?" Kin Jiro peeked through the doorway to see his sister staring out the window of her expansive room with a look of pure concentration on her face. Short red hair seemed to move in the golden sunlight as she took in the devastation of the village below her.

"What is it, Kin?" she asked without looking and without much emotion. It was a mood he had come to recognize easily, though it had only occurred a handful of times in his presence.

She was scared. No one had been able to talk to her about the incident that had left her in human form on the floor of the forest just beside the village. She refused to speak of it, not admitting to what their grandfather's spirit had done to her to get her to change back so easily. The lack of emotion was her way of dealing with it, he knew that.

"I wanted to talk to you," he stepped in quietly.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked in the same empty tone, though now she looked at him, as if to assure herself that he was alright.

"Is grandfather alive in that sword?" he asked, causing her to start. "Because that was him who protected us. And you always keep it with you."

"His spirit is in this metal, that you know." She responded easily. "I don't know anything beyond that."

"You know his spirit was placed in the sword after he turned into a wolf too." She looked away. "I read the history sister."

"Then you know as much as me," was all she could respond. The final words that had haunted her mind, not quite a dream, more like a faint memory, made her thoughts troubles. She held no doubt that her grandfather's last words to her were some sort of warning, but of what, she wasn't sure. But what she did realize was that she needed to be stronger.

"You know, he was saving you too." The young prince told his sister with a serious look on his face. The mask over her features didn't contain her shock at his outspoken behavior. "If he hadn't intervened, you would have lost everything. You weren't in control of yourself. He helped you not make his mistakes."

With those words Kin left the room, leaving a considering Ichi behind. She pulled her brow tightly together as the simple view of her brother wove into her interpretations of her grandfather's words and her experience a few nights prior. The sun was starting to dip below the trees, coating the spaces between them with ruby and gold, like hidden treasures.

"I wasn't in control," she blinked, realizing that perhaps, her grandfather's warning was a missing piece of their history.

Perhaps he had meant to die when he had turned, fully in control of himself, and just tired of caring. He had the power to manipulate himself even outside of his usual body, outside of his usual realm. During her ordeal, she had felt no more in control than if she were hovering outside of her body watching from someone else's eyes. Did this mean she had to get stronger, develop her will more, to be able to handle this nightmare the next time? She still wasn't sure. But she did know one thing.

She would never let herself, or anyone else, be that close to bringing harm to her family again.


End file.
